OnePlus Oxygen OS arrives in March, but you'll have to install it yourself

No over the air update for the OnePlus One

OnePlus has taken to Reddit for an AMA on its new smartphone interface dubbed OxygenOS, and it's been spilling the beans on various aspects of the software.

First up it revealed the OxygenOS release date as "next month", which is March for those of you struggling to keep up.

It will be available to owners of the OnePlus One, but you won't be able to grab it on an OTA (over the air) update.

OnePlus co-founder Carl said: "For the OnePlus One, it will likely not be an OTA, but rather a choice for users who want to try something new and are willing to flash it themselves."

The good news is OnePlus has committed to supporting OxygenOS for two years on the One, meaning owners still have decent life in their handsets.

For anyone hoping to get a taste of the action on any other device you're out of luck, as Carl explains "we're optimizing the stack specifically for the OPO hardware so you may have the best experience."

Why Oxygen?

One keen Redditor - who goes by the charming handle 'DoubleFist01' - asked the important question "Which main features will be in OxygenOS?"

"We named our OS 'Oxygen' because we want it to be something that works for you in the background and make sure the essential things are done well," a OnePlus staff member wrote.

"We'll optimize it for our unique hardware and have added features like the ability to modify the quick settings tile layout & quick unlock (through gestures).

"They're not necessarily groundbreaking features but, especially for our first release, we just want to focus on small optimizations that make your life easier."

And as an added kicker, OnePlus has promised no bloatware, so that's good.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Phones and Tablets Deputy Editor

John (Twitter, Google+) got his first phone aged 12 and since then he's been fixated on all things mobile, churning his way through a multitude of handsets, tablets and operating systems. Signalling his arrival at TechRadar by becoming a Guinness World Record holder in his first week (for the highest score on Super Mario Bros using a giant controller), John hasn't looked back since.